Monday, October 31, 2011

LSC Scoop Week 9 Superlatives and Power Poll


Offensive - Brittan Golden, West Texas A&M    Brittan Golden turned in an All-American caliber performance Saturday, catching 9 passes for 170 and 3 TDs.  Golden's last 7 receptions for the Buffs produced first downs (as well as drawing a pass interference call for another), with 3 going for touchdowns.  His final reception iced the game, as he took a short pass from Dustin Vaughn, broke a tackle and turned it into a 70 yard touchdown.


Defensive - Joe Jones, Tarleton State    Joe Jones, back in the lineup for Tarleton State for the first time since being injured against Texas State in week 3, made his presence felt early for the Texans.  With Incarnate Word driving to tie the game in the first quarter, Jones picked off and Eric Masoni pass and returned it 72 yards for a Texan touchdown, setting the stage for a big win over the Cardinals.  He also had 6 solo tackles on the night.


Special Teams - Matt Stoll, Texas A&M-Kingsville     Matt Stoll had a perfect night kicking for the Javelinas, going 3-3 on PATs and also 3-3 on field goals. Coming into the game, Stoll's career long was a 33 yarder, coming last week against Tarleton State, but he exceeded that mark, not once, but twice against Angelo State.  The first mark came as time expired in the first half, with Stoll connecting on a 39 yard attempt, pulling the Javelinas to within 3 at the break.  His biggest FG though came at the end of the game, as he was successful on a 49 yard kick with no time left on the clock, sending the game into overtime, with Texas A&M-Kingsville eventually winning in 3 OTs.

LSC Scoop Poll (Last Week's Rank)
  1. Midwestern State 8-0 (1) - Offense did not miss a beat, defense not as sharp.
  2. Abilene Christian 6-2 (2) - Not sharp, but didn't have to be against Lions.
  3. West Texas A&M 6-2 (3) - Took care of Central Washington, can they slow down Mustangs?
  4. Tarleton State 4-5 (4) - Decisive win over UIW, Texans appear to be picking up speed.
  5. Texas A&M-Kingsville 5-4 (5) - Turned the ball over 7 times and found a way to win.
  6. Incarnate Word 2-6 (6) - Coaching turmoil affected Cardinals, but still a bad loss.
  7. Angelo State 4-5 (7) - How do you lose when your opponent has 7 turnovers?
  8. Eastern New Mexico 2-7 (8) - Played Mustangs better than all but one team so far this year.
  9. Texas A&M-Commerce 0-8 (9) - Kept score with ACU respectable.

LSC Scoop Regional Rankings
  1. Pittsburg State (1 LW) - 69.37
  2. Midwestern State (2) - 68.19
  3. Washburn (4) - 66.04
  4. Northwest Missouri (3) - 65.75
  5. Missouri Western (5) - 61.72
  6. Abilene Christian (6) - 60.52
  7. West Texas A&M (7) - 60.13
  8. Central Missouri (10) - 58.16
  9. Ouachita Baptist (9) - 57.76
  10. Henderson State (8) - 57.50
  11. Northeastern State () - 57.10
  12. Humboldt State (12) - 56.88
  13. Western Oregon (NR) - 55.52
  14. Missouri S&T (11) - 52.75
  15. East Central (NR)  -  51.85
  16. Tarleton State (NR) - 51.99
  17. Texas A&M-Kingsville (NR) - 51.49

Friday, October 28, 2011

LSC Scoop Game Previews and Picks


Despite going 3-2 last week, Joey maintains the overall lead by a single point.

Season Standings
31 - Joey Richards (LW 3 correct picks)
30 - Bradk Keith (4)
30 - LSC Scoop (4)
29 - Randy Ward (4)
24 - Jacob Unruh (4)

Joey's Picks
ACU 45, Commerce 7 -- Wildcats get some much-needed medicine with the Lions coming to town.
MSU 63, ENMU 7 -- Mustangs looked like a contender for a national championship last week. Might be a little letdown this week, but not much.
TAMK 28, ASU 21 -- Rams have struggled at home this season, and Kingsville has little to lose at this point.
TSU 35, UIW 21 -- Tarleton plays well at home, and the Texans are starting to put things together.
WT 38, CWU 28 -- Buffs can't afford a mistake from here on out. They've got to take care of business against a Central Washington team having an off year.

Randy's Picks
Commerce @ Abilene - Commerce may get some lucky bounces and score 10 points. Abilene 52-10
Midwestern @ Eastern NM - Mustangs have been scoring ridiculous numbers, they'll still win comfortably this week, but maybe the offense cools off some.  Midwestern 38-14
Kingsville @ Angelo State - Rams have a pep in their step this week after shaking the long losing streak. Angelo State 28-7
Incarnate Word @ Tarleton State -  Won't be surprised with either team to win this one, but I'll go with the Cardinal. Incarnate Word 24-17
Central Washington @ West Texas  -  Buffs stay in playoff race for now with a win. West Texas wins 31-24

LSC Scoop Game Previews
Texas A&M-Commerce (0-7) at #19 Abilene Christian (5-2)
Both teams had arguably their worst games of the year last week.  For the winless Lions, it wasn't a big surprise that they lost to Angelo State, but they never were in this game.  The offense did not put together a drive until the third quarter and the Rams had a 35-0 lead.  Their first half possessions gained for -1, 2, 6, 7 (Int), 21, 19 (fumble) and 0 yards.  Meanwhile the defense allowed ASU to put together 5 TD drives of 50 or more yards.  Special Teams got into the act as well, allowing Paul Mason to return a punt 70 yards for a TD.
Expectations for Abilene Christian were much higher.  Yes, Midwestern State was undefeated coming into the game, but they hadn't faced a team as good as ACU yet.  The Wildcats got off to a good start, taking the opening drive 80 yards down the field and scoring the first TD on a 17 yard pass from Mitchell Gale to Taylor Gabriel.  That would be the highlight of the day for ACU, as MSU would score TDs on their first 5 possessions in the first half, while keeping ACU off of the scoreboard and taking complete control of the ballgame.  MSU would end the day with 740 yards of offense, setting an MSU single game record, while also registering as the most given up by an ACU defense.  One bright spot for ACU was WR Taylor Gabriel, who had 10 receptions for 138 yards and 3 TDs.
Milestones - with 303 yards passing, Mithcell Gale will move into the #3 spot on ACU's career charts.  JJ Harp needs 256 passing yards to reach 7,500 for his career.  Taylor Fore is 64 receiving yards shy of 1,500 for his career.
 This has the makings of an ugly game.  TAMC didn't show up at their own homecoming against Angelo State, and ACU is fighting for the playoff lives.  ACU wins big, 49-7.

#8 Midwestern State (7-0) at Eastern New Mexico (2-6)
The frst half was simply awfulf for the Greyhounds at Kimbrough Stadium.  The defense allowed drives of 80, 48, 91, 96, and 86 yards, four of which ended with Buffalo TDs.  Meanwhile, the offense never made it past the WT 33 yard line until the third quarter.  They were just never in this ballgame.    Darian Dale reached a milestone last weekend, surpassing the 2,500 yard receiving mark.
A win over ACU was not a huge surprise, but 740 yards of offense and 70 points certainly was.  The Mustangs averaged 10 yards a play (9.1 on the ground, 12.2 per pass attempt).  Brandon Kelsey continued his breakout season, completing 16-24 passes for 205 yards and 3 TDs, and rushing for 114 yards and another TD.  MSU punted the ball just twice, while scoring 10 TDs against ACU's defense.  For the season, MSU has 4 of the top 7 rushers in the LSC.  Jimmy Pipkin (89.2) is averaging 13.4 yards per carry, Kelsey (83.7) is averaging 10.5 per carry, Keidrick Jackson (74.3) and Lester Bush (60.7) have shared the ball all year, and have a combined 31 rushing TDs.  Only Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M more total team TDs.  Not to be overlooked, the Mustang defense held ACU's offense to just one first half TD, forcing 4 punts and picking off Mitchell Gale on the second series of the game.  A large chunk of the total yards given up by MSU, cam after they had taken a 49-14 lead late in the third quarter.  If there is an area for improvement, it could be in the penalty department. MSU had 129 yards of penalties, including a roughing the kicker penalty that led to an ACU score.  Not a big deal in that game, but it is something that could hurt them down the road.  For the season, MSU is last in the LSC with 90.3 penalty yards per game.
Milestone - MSU's David Little trails Bryan Gilmore by 6 receptions on MSU's career record book.  Wes Wood needs 54 passing yards to reach 6,000 for his career, and 330 to pass JJ Harp for #2 on ENMU's record books.  Tony Valenzuela needs 11 yards to reach 1,000 rushing yards.
This week will end a brutal stretch of the schedule for ENMU that has seen them face 4 straight ranked foes, with 3 of them in the top ten when played.  None of those games have been pretty, and don't expect this one to be either.  MSU 56-7.

Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-4) at Angelo State (4-4)
The Javelinas inconsistent, frustrating, and exciting seaon continued last week, as Tarleton State scored the last 14 points of the game, taking a 41-34 win over the Javelinas.  Similar to their other losses, TAMK fell behind 14-0 after another first quarter turnover. The offense put together an impressive stretch scoring 31 points over a 16:36 span in the second and third quarters.  But mistakes down the stretch allowed the Texans to come back and win the game.  The offense has averaged 484 yards over the last 6 games
We're not sure what to make of Angelo State's 45-14 win over TAMC.  On the surface it was impressive, with the Rams picking up 191 yards rushing and 209 passing, not turning the ball over, while getting two takeaways themselves (which led to 2 TDs), and returning a punt for a TD.  But it was against a winless team, that didn't show much fight.  It did end a four game skid for the Rams (including three ranked teams), and gives them momentum for a strong finish.
Quiet sidenote - While not getting the accolades that Aston Whiteside does, TAMK's Roderick Benman (8) and ASU's Lawrence Rumph (7.5) top the LSC in sacks and are #1 (Rumph with 12) and #3 (Benman with 11) in tackles for loss.
Milestone - Damian Couthren needs 6 receiving yards to reach 1,500 for his career.  Daniel Ramirez is 159 passing yards shy of 3,000.  Jonathan Woodson nees 36 all-purpose yards to reach 3,500 for his career.  Tristan Carter needs 360 rushing yards to crack ASU's top 10 all-time rushing list.
Interesting matchup of a couple of up and down teams.  ASU had letdowns against ENMU and MSU, while TAMK has yet to put together a complete game.  At some point, the Javelinas will put together a complete game, won't they?  It will be interesting, TAMK 35-31.

Incarnate Word (2-5) at Tarleton State (3-5)
The big news this week was the dismissal/resignation of UIW head coach, Mike Santiago.  Reports out of San Antonio have indicated that it wasn't so much the team's won-loss record, but other factors that led to his leaving the university.  His last game was nearly his biggest win as the Cardinals narrowly missed out upsetting Texas A&M-Kingsville.  Perhaps the most interesting bit of information that came out of the various news reports, was that the selection of a new coach would depend on whether UIW plans to move to FCS - a move to FCS would mean a nationwide coaching search, while remaining in D2 would open the pool to the possibility of internal candidates being considered for the HC position.
The Texans got a huge momentum boost, winning in Kingsville 41-34.  The offense, which had been held in check for most of the game, awoke late the game, gaining 173 of the teams 428 yards and scoring 17 fourth quarter points to pull out the win.  Courtney Vaugh had 152 yards rushing and 31 receiving, scoring twice.  In Tarleton's 3 wins, he has rushed for 365 yards, while totalling just 119 yards the rest of the year.  Nick Stephens had his best game of the year, with 294 yards and 4 TDs.  The defense continues to struggle, allowing teams 436 yards and 35.5 points per game.
Milestone - Nick Stephens is 188 passing yards from 4,000 for his career. Trent Rios needs 251 rushing yards for 2,000.
The Texans appear to have turned the corner, winning their last two games and scoring 95 points in the process.  A winning season is a possiblity for them, something that was very unlikely just a couple of weeks ago.  They will take another step in that direction, TSU 42-24.

Central Washington (3-4) at #20 West Texas A&M (5-2)
The Buffaloes continued their domination of the lower rung LSC teams and retaining the Wagon Wheel with a 52-21 win over Eastern New Mexico.  Bad field position did not bother WT, as they  had 5 TD possessions of 80+ yards in the game (and a 91 yard drive that ended on the ENMU 1), with 3 TDs of more than 65 yards.  Dustin Vaughn, who threw for 402 yards and 4 TDs on just 14-20 passing, Lance Ratliff, with 5 catches for 173 yards and 2 TDs, and Aarrhon Flores, with 130 yards rushing on 12 carries, were the offensive standouts.  The defense did its part, shutting out ENMU in the first half and to just 7 points through three quarters.
The Wildcats continued to recover from an 0-3 start to the season, squeaking by Dixie State 31-24.  Jose Mohler completed 16-24 passes for 259 yards and 2 TDs in his first start.  Armahd Lewis had two catches, both for TDs of 75 and 63 yards.  Offensively, they don't run the ball well, averaging just 101 yards per game and 3 yards per carry, while passing for 251 yards a game.  The defense allows 141 yards rushing and 222 passing, and have picked off 11 passes.  While CWU has won 3 of the last 4 games, two were wins over Dixie State and Simon Fraser.  They have one impressive win (41-10 over Western Oregon), and their losses have come by margins of 11, 2, 7, and 10 points.
Milestone - Brittan Golden is 16 receiving yards from #3 (Keith Miller) on WT's career charts, and 151 yards from #2 (Brad Bailey).
This was expected to be a marquee matchup of playoff contenders, but CWU has not held up their end of the bargain.  They are playing for pride, while WT has the playoffs firmly in sight.  They will not slip up this week, WT 42-17.

Lone Star Conference

Angelo State University

Cameron University

Eastern New Mexico University

MSUMustangs.com

Texas A&M-Commerce

Tarleton State University

Texas A&M-Kingsville

Texas Woman's College

University of Texas of the Permian Basin

West Texas A&M University

Western New Mexico